Got a ukulele? Gonna be on the south coast in August?

Taking place from August 7-14, Broadstairs Folk Week features a massed ukulele band for this year’s finale.

The March of the 100 Ukuleles takes place on August 14 and is open to anyone with an acoustic uke tuned to GCEA (not a banjo) to learn the [...]

Claire Jackson heads to Suffolk

Nestled among a fairylight-clad woodland lies several green neon signs sporting hippy ideals; “truth”, “love” and “harmony”. Pink, green and purple sheep graze in the adjacent open fields, seemingly content with their newfound look. A glittering light display dapples across a wooden bridge, next to which [...]

They say that truth is stranger than fiction and in the great tradition of anything “they” say, it’s a big fat pack of lies. Fiction is miles better than truth. MILES better. True Stories, the new album from venerable fretboard hero, Martin Simpson could have used a heavier lick of fantasy to lift some gorgeously [...]

Hugh Wilson meets his teenage hero

Jason Ringenberg is probably the most profound man in music. “Never go to the UK,” he opines, “without your wellies.”

And with that pithy sentence the alt. country pioneer and man of a million Stetsons pretty much nails it. His advice to any musician who might usually reside in the [...]

Time is running out if you want to enter the annual BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards.

The competition is open to UK residents between the ages of 15 and 20 on 1 September 2009. Former winners include Black Cat Theory (2000) which spawned chart-busting Nizlopi and Scottish fiddler Lauren MacColl. Last year’s winners were [...]